San Francisco Opera invites you and your family to attend FREE screenings of our Opera-in-an-Hour Movies presented throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn about where you can catch a screening of our family friendly operas, click here.

We announced our long-awaited 2012–13 season yesterday and even though we are still over 7 months away from our next opening night, we are all getting quite excited about what is in store. You can read complete repertory and casting information here, but for a bit of insight into the highlights of the season, read on to hear what General Director David Gockely is looking forward to the most!

We are incredibly excited to announce our 2012-13 Season today! Take your time browsing the website for complete repertory and casting information. You will also find a wide variety of additional information including synopses, program articles from past years, photos and videos.

Happy Holidays! We will be taking a brief break from updating this blog in order to celebrate the holidays and the end of a successful Fall Season! We'll be back in mid-January with exciting insights into our three Summer operas: Attila, The Magic Flute and Nixon in China as well as our soon-to-be-announced 2012-13 operas!

Can't wait to find out what we will be doing next season? Check our Facebook page each day beginning January 7 for clues about our 2012-13 operas and a chance to win a pair of tickets!

While working on Bizet’s Carmen I found myself reflecting on the topic of “encounter with difference”—unlikely relationships that form between non-like-minded people—and pondering both the attraction and violence those experiences can generate. Both Carmen and Don José are members of marginalized minority populations in 19th-century Spain: she is a gypsy and he is a Basque.

Carmen and I have spent the last two months together. Interesting, since she never stays in one relationship that long… I started rehearsals as the cover in the French Carmen and continued with Carmen for Families. I am Israeli, playing a Spanish Gypsy, in a French opera, sung in English. Confused? Me too!

Introduction

Backstage at San Francisco Opera is a fascinating, fast-moving, mysterious and sacred space for the Company’s singers, musicians, dancers, technicians and production crews. Musical and staging rehearsals are on-going, scenery is loaded in and taken out, lighting cues are set, costumes and wigs are moved around and everything is made ready to receive the audience. From the principal singers, chorus and orchestra musicians to the creative teams for each opera, in addition to the many talented folks who don’t take a bow on stage, this blog offers unique insight, both thought-provoking and light-hearted, into the life backstage at San Francisco Opera.